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Comment by jdmichal | Hacker News Reader

Because I'm sure those 20,000 employees are all just waiting with their bags packed ready to follow Google where ever they decide to settle down... Or that they are all completely fungible and just picking up another 20,000 somewhere else won't interrupt operations at all.

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Yes, they will follow Google to Sunnyvale or Cupertino or any other of the five to ten towns within a 20 mile drive from Mountain View.

No one is so beholden to their almost indistinguishable south bay suburb that they wouldn't venture across the border to go to work -- these towns are 20 square miles at best.

My original understanding of the post I was replying to was hinting at a much bigger move than 20 miles. Upon rereading it, I potentially erroneously added that context within my own head.

Makes sense, it does seem like they would have a harder time retaining people if they moved to Boise.

That would be pretty sweet if a giant tech company like Google packed up and left Silicon Valley. It's going to take big moves like that to get a real exodus rolling.

It's not necessary to forklift the entire population of 20,000 employees when you have the option to grow elsewhere in the region.

You might be surprised to hear that a significant number of Google employees in Mountain View were recently moved to a new campus outside of the city, and it wasn't exactly an opt-in affair.

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